Since 1939 Auckland Rangers have been climbing Mt Eden at dawn to welcome Thinking Day. This year was the second time our unit has run the dawn service. About 70 people came, including a group of Guiding folk on tour from Britain, Denmark and Malaysia. We are posting the ceremony we put together below. We made masks to wear for it (which meant we had to be sure we were very loud). Each mask was split into two halves, and painted to signify two opposite states. We started by standing in single file, leaning out to eavh side and yelling what each half represented.
Feast / Famine
Happy / Sad
Safe / Threatened
Healthy / Sick
Have / Have Not
WILDFLOWER:
As we wake in celebration of thinking day this morning many people, our brothers and sisters in scouting, wake to another day of devastation, without food or water and adequate shelter, some even without family and friends, orphaned by the shocking Boxing Day tsunami. But these are not the only people affected by hunger and dehydration, as we often see on TV millions of people are suffering. In places like Angola, Zambia and parts of South Africa the environment restricts the growth of food as it is too dry and storms often flood areas. Crops die and sometimes the cost of food is so high that families live on three to four meals a week. In war stricken areas such as the Congo, Iraq and Borneo people have fled to refugee camps where there is not enough food to go around or the food has been destroyed in the fighting. Those that live in Hiroshima cannot grow food on the land because it is still contaminated by the atomic bomb dropped on it in 1945. Even here in NZ some families do not earn enough money to put three meals on the table every day. Even here we are not protected from natural disasters. Floods and earthquakes occur every year. Even things as simple as frost can lead to the destruction of crops. In NZ we are lucky though as we can import foods from other countries to feed the people. In some countries they are to poor or there are too many people and even aid cannot provide enough for every person.
And yet we associate food with celebration. It unites and strengthens communities and the bonds between them through tradition. Some of the common events celebrated worldwide with food are Christmas, New Year, Weddings and birthdays. A Christmas in Russia is a feast of 12 different dishes to represent Christ’s disciples while a typical Christmas in NZ is a BBQ and salad or if the family stays with ancestral tradition from Britain a roast. In some countries birthdays are used to help predict the child’s future. When a child reaches their first birthday in Korea they are sat before objects such as fruit, rice, calligraphy pens and money. The object the child grabs first tells the future. For example rice represents material wealth. Also in many countries food is used to welcome people in to a home. In many western countries it is polite to offer guests food and a drink.
So you see that food plays a very important part in all of our lives every guide and scout around the world included. It unites us all as humans no matter what your religion, race or culture.
I now invite our Auckland Regional Coordinator to say a few words.
We’d like to invite any overseas guests or any one with international greetings to come up now.
L.:
Earth is a crowded place, and it is getting more crowded all the time. In the world today, more than 6 billion people live. If our world was shrunk to the size of a village of 100 people, what would it look like? Who are the people of our village?
59 would be Asian
14 would be American
14 would be African
12 would be European
1 would be from the South Pacific
There would be 51 women and 49 men
30 would be children, 70 would be adults
In our village, there are almost 6000 languages
15 would speak Mandarin
7 would speak English
7 would speak Spanish
6 would speak Hindi
6 would speak Russian
4 would speak Arabic
3 would speak Portuguese
The others would speak Japanese, German, French or some other language
A bell chimes in a church, a wooden gong sounds at a temple, and a muzzein calls people to prayer from the minaret of a mosque. The villagers come to worship.
33 would be Christians
21 would be Muslims
15 would be Hindus
6 would be Buddhists
6 would believe in other religions
14 would be without any religion
The smells and sounds of the market draw you near. The tables are piled with fresh baked bread, vegetables, tofu and rice. But of the 100 people in this village:
60 people are always hungry and 20 of these are severely undernourished
1 is dying of starvation, while 15 are overweight
10 other people go to bed hungry at least some of the time
Only 24 people always have enough to eat
In a part of the village, someone buys a new car. In another, a man repairs the family’s bicycle, their most valued possession. How much money do people in the village get?
If all the money in the village were divided equally, each person would have about $6200 per year. But in the village, money isn’t divided equally.
The richest 20 people each have more than $9000 a year
The poorest 20 people each have less than $1 a day.
If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet and spare change somewhere around the house, then you are among the richest 8
Of the 88 people old enough to read, 71 can read at least a little, 15 cannot read at all.
More males are taught to read than females
Only 1 has an university degree
Dusk arrives, then darkness. In many homes, electric light spills out into the streets. In others, the dark is kept away with candles, oil lamps and lanterns.
76 have electricity
24 do not
20 people consume 80% of the village’s energy, meaning 80 people share the remaining 20%.
20 people have no clean, safe water to drink.
32 breathe air that is unhealthy because of pollution.
If you can speak and act according to your faith and your conscience without harassment, imprisonment, torture or death, then you are more fortunate than 48, who can not.
If you do not live in fear of death by bombardment, armed attack, landmines, or of rape or kidnapping by armed groups, then you are more fortunate than 20, who do.
What will our village be like in the future? How fast will it grow? How many people will it be home to?
1 person in the village will die each year, and 2 babies will be born. If there are 100 people in 2006 by 2250 there could be nearly 3200 people. A village that size will be a very crowded place, with widespread shortages of food, shelter and other resources.
In such a village with so many sorts of people, it is very important to learn to understand people different from yourself and to accept others as they are. In this way we can work hard to make sure that the village of the future is a good home for all the people who live in it.
SWEET AS SUGAR:
Happiness means you’re rich. Money equates to happiness. However you say it – you probably all believe it. To be happy, you need money. Sure, this is true enough for some things – no one’s going to be too happy if they haven’t got a roof over their heads, food in their bellies and a place to have a quiet shower or bath at the end of the day. But even then, you don’t actually need these so-called ‘necessities’ in order to achieve true happiness. In a recent study published in Time magazine, the happiest countries in the WORLD were also some of the poorest! Nigeria, Colombia, Vietnam and Indonesia to name a few. New Zealanders – very ‘up-there’ in the wealth stakes – were only approximately 88% and Australians – wealthier than New Zealanders - were more unhappy than us at a mere 50% happy. The real recipe for happiness? Forget about money. Focus on friends and family, love of your life, your job, yourself. Because the Nigerians have proved it – love really makes the world go ‘round.
TROUBLE JR:
Two people watched the same sunset.
One said: “At times like this I am afraid.
The sky is so vast, the sea so immense.
In comparison I’m a speck of dust,
Here today, gone tomorrow.
When I look at the hugeness of creation,
I feel my insignificance
And wonder what my life is all about.”
The second person said:
“What a glorious sunset!
Just think!
I am the reason that this exists.
I am the only proof I have
of all the beauty in this world.
Without the gift of my senses,
all this would be as nothing.
I praise that the universe is held
In the wonder of my being.
As we sing “It’s a Small World” the collection pots will go around. Money collected will go to the Thinking Day Fund.
S:
I Want To Be Me
(text to be added later)
Buddhist Prayer
Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn't die;
so, let us all be thankful.
Daylight Taps
Thanks and praise,
For our days,
‘Neath the sun,
‘Neath the stars,
‘Neath the sky.
As we go,
this we know.
God is nigh.
